Delhi District Court
State vs . 1. Amit Deswal on 27 May, 2017
1
IN THE COURT OF SHRI VIVEK KUMAR GULIA
ASJ03 & SPECIAL JUDGE (COMPANIES ACT)
DWARKA DISTRICT COURTS, DELHI.
In the matter of:
State Vs. 1. Amit Deswal
S/o Late Sh. Ravi Deswal,
2. Nirmala
W/o Late Sh. Ravi Deswal,
3. Preeti
D/o Late Sh. Ravi Deswal,
All R/o RZ259, Lokesh Park,
Najafgarh, New Delhi.
Registration No. of the Case : 440886/2016.
SC No. : 113/2015.
FIR No. : 225/2013.
PS : Baba Hari Dass Nagar.
Under Section : 498A/304B/302/34 IPC.
Date of Institution : 13.12.2013.
Case Committed to the Court of
Sessions for : 19.12.2013.
Case Received by this Court by way
of Transfer on : 02.02.2015.
Case Reserved for Judgment on : 05.05.2017.
Judgment Announced on : 27.05.2017.
Page No. 1 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
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JUDGMENT
FACTUAL BACKGROUND:
1. The following is a brief account of prosecution case and other relevant facts:
1.1 In this case, FIR was registered on the statement of Ram Kumar (PW1) given to Executive Magistrate (PW4), whereby it was alleged that his daughter Sapna (since deceased) was got married with accused Amit Deswal on 10.02.2012 and her inlaws started demanding dowry after marriage itself.
Further, on the occasion of marriage, a car was gifted at the demand of bridegroom and he transferred Rs. 3 lacs in his account and Rs. 50,000/ were given in cash. Further, he used to give money on few occasions for the happiness of his daughter. Further, he had incurred all the expenses related to birth of his grand daughter. Further, fatherinlaw of Sapna i.e. accused Ravi Deswal (since deceased) had called him and asked for one gold chain and fixed deposit of Rs. One lac in the name of his granddaughter on the occasion of her first birthday, which was to come on 23rd September. Ten minutes after that Sapna had called on his phone, which was pickedup by his wife and she Page No. 2 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
3 informed that her inlaws are beating her. Then he talked to fatherinlaw of Sapna and he informed that Amit Deswal and Sapna are quarreling with each other. At about 10.00 pm, his elder daughter (PW3) informed him on telephone that Sapna has been killed.
1.2 During investigation, it was found that death of Sapna was caused due to hanging from ceiling fan with a chhuni. Further, postmortem was got done and cause of death was opined as asphyxia following antemortem hanging.
2. After culmination of investigation, the accused persons were chargesheeted and produced/appeared before the Court of Ld. Area MM. After complying with the provisions of Section 207 CrPC, the case was committed to the Court of Sessions u/s 209 CrPC.
3. During trial, proceedings against accused Ravi Singh were abated vide order dated 29.05.2015.
TRIAL PROCEEDINGS:
4. In light of the above stated facts and proceedings, vide Page No. 3 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
4 order dated 17.04.2014, Ld. ASJ framed charges under Sections 498A/304B/302/34 IPC against all accused persons, to which they pleaded not guilty and claimed trial.
5. For proving its case, prosecution has produced 24 witnesses.
5.1 PW1, Ram Kumar, PW2, Raj, and PW3, Neelam, who were father, mother and elder sister respectively of the deceased are the most material witnesses and have deposed about the dowry demands, harassment and cruelty caused to the deceased in connection with that.
5.2 PW10, R.S. Yadav, Junior Telecome Officer of MTNL, and PW16, Ajeet Kumar, Nodal Officer of Reliance Communication Ltd., have produced the calls detail records and other relevant records of the phones of the parties concerned. 5.3 PW21, Dr. Parvinder Singh, Specialist Forensic Medicine, RTRM Hospital, has proved the death report Ex. PW21/A. 5.4 Rest of the witnesses are formal witnesses or police officials associated with the investigation.
6. Statement of the accused persons was recorded u/s 313 Page No. 4 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
5 CrPC. When the accused persons were briefed on all the incriminating evidence and documents, they denied the allegations. Accused Amit Deswal mentioned that the marriage of Sapna was solemnized with him by her parents after pressuring her and against her wish as she wanted to marry one Yashwinder @ Yashi. Further, he mentioned that before marriage, Sapna tried to commit suicide during college days. Further, he stated that no dowry demand was made from his side prior to marriage or at the time of marriage or after the marriage and Sapna was never beaten or harassed by them. Other accused persons have also stated to the same effect.
7. The accused persons opted to lead evidence in their defence. Accused Amit Dewsal had himself stepped into the witness box as DW1 and deposed that after his marriage with Sapna, he saw so many cut marks on her wrist and despite asking, she did not disclose the reasons for the said cut marks. Further, they went on honeymoon with another couple and after returning, Sapna used to remain upset and on his repeated asking, she told that her marriage was not solemnized with her consent. Further, she disclosed that she wanted to marry one Yashwinder @ Yashi, who was studying with her in college and Page No. 5 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
6 since her parents did not agree for her alliance with Yashwinder @ Yashi, she tried to commit suicide many a times by cutting her wrist. He further testified that in September 2013, Sapna gave birth to premature baby girl and thus, he got treated her in private nursing home. Even after that, Sapna used to say that she cannot forget Yashwinder @ Yashi and she wanted to spend her life with him only and thus, to make her happy, he used to take her for outstation trips to Jaipur, Agra etc. and even he gifted gold articles on small occasions for helping her to forget her past. Further, he bore all expenses of Sapna's LLM course after marriage. Further, on the date of incident, when he came back to house from Dwarka, he found Sapna talking over phone that she does not want to stay here with him and while talking, she went inside the room and he had no idea as to why she had committed suicide. Further, he placed on record photographs of his honeymoon, copy of medical bills, copy of bills of purchase of jewellery.
APPRECIATION OF EVIDENCE:
8. I have heard the State through Sh. Pramod Kumar, ld. Additional PP for State and all the accused persons through ld.
Page No. 6 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
7 counsel Sh. Vinay Kr. Sharma. Record is also gone through.
9. It is summed up by the ld. Additional PP that testimony of the family members of the deceased (PW1 to PW3) is sufficient to prove the facts that the accused persons had made several dowry demands at the time of marriage and subsequently, and when their demands were not met, the deceased was harassed and even beaten by them. Further, it was argued that the death of Sapna under suspicious circumstances after 19 months of her marriage points towards culpability of the accused persons in the alleged offences. On the other hand, ld. defence counsel argued that there is no evidence on record that soon before death, Sapna was subjected to cruelty in connection with dowry demands and moreover, the prosecution has not been able to bring on record concrete evidence to show that the accused persons had ever demanded dowry from the deceased or her family members. It was also emphasized that the deceased was kept in matrimonial house properly and the deceased committed suicide since she was not happy in her matrimonial house as her parents had forced her to marry with accused Amit Deswal against her will.
10. In this case, there are following important points of Page No. 7 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
8 determination:
(i) That the accused persons subjected the deceased to cruelty in connection with demand of dowry or otherwise;
(ii) That the deceased died under suspicious circumstances within seven years of her marriage and soon before her death, she was subjected to cruelty or harassment by the accused persons in connection of demand of dowry; and
(iii) In the alternative, that the accused persons had caused murder of Sapna in furtherance of their common intention by hanging her on the fan with the help of chhuni.
11. Let us first examine the case in respect of most serious offence in this case i.e. offence punishable u/s 302 IPC. It is found that there is no direct or circumstantial evidence to suggest that the accused persons had hanged the deceased on the fan with the help of chhuni recovered from her room. It has come in evidence of PW7 SI Purshotam Singh and PW19 Const. Dharamvir Singh, the police officials from the local police station, Page No. 8 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
9 who reached at the house of the deceased immediately after receiving the information vide DD No. 53A dated 15.09.2013 Ex. PW13/A, that when they reached in the room of the deceased on the first floor, the entry door of the room was found broken and dead body was lying on the double bed and further, on the same bed, a table having height of 1½ feet and chhuni were also lying. Further, they mentioned that on making inquiries from the public persons gathered there, they came to know that deceased Sapna had hanged herself and after breaking open the door of her room, her hanging dead body was untied and laid down on the bed. Moreover, as per Delhi Police Control Room FormI dated 15.09.2013 Ex. PW23/A, the caller had informed at phone no. 100 that the deceased had committed suicide. Furthermore, vide DD No. 53A Ex. PW13/A, it was recorded that an information was received in PS BHD Nagar at 10.12 pm that a lady had hanged herself. Further, as per 'report of brief circumstances' prepared by PW7, Sapna had committed suicide. Furthermore, the prosecution has not been able to establish on record that all the accused persons were present in the house at the time of incident. Thus, it becomes clear that it is not a case of homicide and in the result, the charge u/s 302 IPC is bound to fail.
Page No. 9 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
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12. But, it is certain that Sapna died under abnormal circumstances. If it is not a case of homicide, it could be a case of suicide because her death by accident could reasonably be ruled out from all the broad circumstances of this case. Thus, this Court is now required to consider whether the accused persons can be fastened with penal liability u/s 304B IPC.
13. Death of Sapna within seven years of her marriage and under suspicious circumstances because of hanging is not disputed. PW1, PW2 and PW3 have deposed that Sapna was married to accused Amit Deswal on 10.02.2012 and she had died on 15.09.2013. As per postmortem report Ex. PW21/A, death of Sapna was due to asphyxia following antemortem hanging and no external injury other than the ligature marks over neck were noticed on her dead body. Thus, out of three conditions precedent for establishing offence punishable u/s 304B IPC, two stand satisfied and now it is only required to be established that cruelty and harassment in connection with demand of dowry caused to the deceased was soon before her death.
14. The prosecution has produced, father, mother and elder Page No. 10 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
11 sister of the deceased to prove the allegations of dowry demands and cruelty associated with it. Ram Kumar (PW1) and Raj (PW2) have testified that on the occasion of marriage, a car make Maruti Alto K10 was gifted to accused Amit Deswal and for this purpose, PW1 transferred Rs. 3 lacs from his account to the car dealer's account directly and remaining amount of Rs. 50,000/ was given to accused Ravi Singh. Further, it is testified that after the marriage, husband and inlaws of Sapna used to taunt her for bringing insufficient dowry and they did not allow her to use fridge and washing machine by saying that same were not brought by her in dowry. Further, they alleged that on 23.09.2012, Sapna gave birth to a premature baby, but her in laws had left her in the hospital alone and further, they incurred the expenses of the hospital, which were about Rs. 60,000/. Both the witnesses also alleged that on 15.09.2013, PW1 received a call at 9.30 pm from accused Ravi Singh that they want to celebrate first birthday of his granddaughter and they require Rs. One lac and one gold chain but PW1 showed his inability to bear such expenses. Further Sapna called PW2 to disclose that her inlaws are demanding aforesaid money and also beating her. Further, PW2 also deposed that Sapna disclosed that her sister inlaw and motherinlaw had caught hold of her and her father Page No. 11 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
12 inlaw and husband have given merciless beatings. Further, both of them mentioned that at about 10.0010.15 pm, their elder daughter Neelam called PW1 to inform that Sapna has been killed by her inlaws.
15. Another important witness is Neelam (PW3), who had stated that Sapna was more attached to her than anybody else in their family and she used to communicate with her daily over telephone. She further mentioned that on 15.09.2013, at 9.00 pm, motherinlaw of Sapna had conversation with her on landline number for about 30 minutes and she had informed that Sapna was insisting to take SSC coaching and further she demanded Rs. One lac and gold chain for the first birthday ceremony of daughter of Sapna. She further mentioned that thereafter at 9.37 pm, Sapna called her and disclosed about her quarrel with inlaws and requested her to take her away from matrimonial house. Sapna further disclosed that her sisterin law and motherinlaw caught hold of her and her fatherinlaw and husband gave severe beatings to her. Further, PW3 testified that after call of Sapna, her father had called her after coming to know about beatings given to Sapna by her inlaws. Further, she mentioned that at 9.57 pm, she received call from accused Preeti, Page No. 12 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
13 sisterinlaw of Sapna, and at that time, she could hear the screams of Sapna "bachaobachao". Further, she mentioned that at 10.06 pm, accused Amit Deswal called her and informed that he had killed Sapna.
16. On considering the testimony of all these witnesses and statement Ex. PW1/A of PW1 Ram Kumar given to the Executive Magistrate, on the basis of which FIR was registered, number of contradictions, improvements and inconsistencies can be observed. In the statement Ex. PW1/A, it is mentioned that car was given at the demand of accused Amit Deswal, but demand for car was not alleged by either by PW1 or PW2 or PW3 during their testimony. Furthermore, in statement Ex. PW1/A, it was mentioned that for purchasing the car, PW1 transferred Rs. 3 lacs in the account of accused Amit Deswal, whereas during their testimony, PW1 and PW2 mentioned that Rs. 3 lacs were transferred from the account of PW1 to the account of car dealer directly. Furthermore, it is mentioned that remaining amount of Rs. 50,000/ was given to accused Ravi Singh for purchasing the car, but no material was brought on record to substantiate this fact. Further, though PW1 and PW2 replied in their cross examination that Rs. 1315 lacs were spent on the marriage, but Page No. 13 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
14 they also admitted that apart from LCD television, no other expensive article was given at the time of marriage. Furthermore, PW2 confirmed that they had spent an amount of Rs. One lac on purchasing of the jewellery. The list of dowry articles Ex. PW1/C is also on record and it cannot be disputed that the articles mentioned therein including jewellery must not be more than Rs. 23 lacs. Furthermore, it is also not disputed that no bills related to purchasing of jewellery articles, money spent in marriage function, etc. were handed over to the police during investigation. In such circumstances, it is difficult to believe the version of PW1 and PW2 that a sum of Rs. 15 lacs approximately was spent on the marriage of deceased Sapna.
17. Further, the family members of the deceased have alleged that Sapna was left alone in the hospital when she gave birth to premature baby girl on 23.09.2013 and they had to take care of Sapna and her child and had also paid the medical expenses of Rs. 60,000/. In this regard, PW1 and PW2 had admitted that during pregnancy, Sapna was treated by doctor at Najafgarh and her treatment was under the supervision of her inlaws. Further, PW1 had mentioned that his wife and elder daughter and motherinlaw of Sapna were present in the Page No. 14 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
15 hospital at the time of birth of child of Sapna. PW2 has stated that she stayed in the hospital for only two hours and her husband did not visit that day. She also deposed that Sapna remained in hospital for 67 days and she did not go to see her again and her daughter Pooja had gone to see her during her hospitalization. On this aspect, PW3 has mentioned that accused Amit Deswal and his mother were present in the hospital and she had gone alongwith her sister Renu, mother and one Sonu to DDU Hospital, from where Sapna was taken to Lady Harding Hospital and when they were not satisfied with the medical treatment, they advised accused Amit Deswal to admit Sapna in the hospital from where Sapna was already taking the prenatal medical advice. Further, PW3 testified that thereafter they came to private hospital at Uttam Nagar, where the delivery of Sapna took place. Further, she stated that she left hospital 10 minutes before delivery and after that she did not go to met her, but her sister Pooja went to see her. The aforesaid evidence makes it quite clear that accused Amit Deswal and his mother were present with Sapna in the hospital and moreover, they had shifted her to a private nursing home at Uttam Nagar, though the accused persons were residing at Najafgarh, only at the advice of PW2 and PW3. Thus, the allegation of PW1 and PW2 Page No. 15 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
16 that inlaws of Sapna had left her alone in the hospital at the time of delivery, are proved to be false and baseless.
18. Further, PW1, PW2 and PW3 have also deposed that all the expenses of Rs. 60,000/ approximately related to birth of child of Sapna were incurred by PW1. However, no documentary evidence was placed on record in this regard. Rather, accused Amit Deswal in his evidence placed on record the hospital and medicines bills Mark D12 and Ex. DX1 to show that the entire expenses related to delivery were borne by him.
19. Further, PW1 has alleged that her daughter was enrolled with Delhi Bar Council, but she was not allowed to do practice, but during cross examination, he admitted that Sapna was pursuing LLM through correspondence and she had passed her first year examination after her marriage. Further, PW1 had also admitted that accused Amit Deswal deposited Rs. 20,000/ in his account on 16.07.2013 and that amount was returned by accused Amit Deswal since earlier he had paid the LLM fees of Sapna. Further, accused Amit Deswal (DW1) has also deposed that after marriage, Sapna got admission in LLM course and she passed her first year examination and since she was interested in Page No. 16 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
17 government job, he helped her for competitive examination. In support of his plea, accused Amit Deswal has placed on record the admit cards Mark D13 of deceased Sapna for appearing in different examinations for employment. Thus, it falsifies the allegation of PW1 that the deceased was not allowed to build her career.
20. Ld. Additional PP has emphasized that on the date of death of Sapna, she was beaten by all four accused persons in connection with dowry demands and thus, her death should be considered as dowry death. On this aspect, PW1, PW2 and PW3 testified that fatherinlaw and motherinlaw of the deceased demanded Rs. One lac and gold chain for celebrating first birthday of his granddaughter and when he showed his inability to meet the demand, her daughter was beaten and Sapna had disclosed about the said beatings and demands to PW2 and PW3. On the other hand, ld. defence counsel argued that the prosecution has not been able to prove that the accused persons had ever demanded dowry from the deceased or her family members. Now the question arises whether the demands of in laws made on the occasion of birth of child or other ceremonies not related to marriage can be covered within the purview of Page No. 17 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
18 dowry. In view of this Court, answer to this question can only be in the negative. The opinion of this Court is supported by the decision of Supreme Court of India given in the case of "Satvir Singh & Others Vs. State of Punjab & Another", (2001) 8 SCC 633, wherein it was held as under:
"20. ... ... ... The word "dowry" in Section 304B has to be understood as it is defined in Section 2 of the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961. That definition reads thus:
"2. In this Act, 'dowry' means any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given either directly or indirectly
(a) by one party to a marriage to the other party to the marriage; or
(b) by the parents of either party to a marriage or by any other person, to either party to the marriage or to any other person;
at or before or any time after the marriage in connection with the marriage of the said parties, but does not include dower or mahr in the case of persons to whom the Muslim personal law (Shariat) applies."
21. Thus, there are three occasions related to dowry. One is before the marriage, second is at the time of marriage and the third is "at any time" after the marriage. The third occasion may appear to be an unending period. But the crucial words are "in connection with the marriage of the said parties". This means that giving or agreeing to give any property or valuable security on any of the above three stages should have been in connection with the marriage of the parties. There can be many other instances for payment of money or giving property as between the spouses. For example, some customary payments in connection with birth of a child or other ceremonies are prevalent in different societies. Such payments are not Page No. 18 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
19 enveloped within the ambit of "dowry". Hence the dowry mentioned in Section 304B should be any property or valuable security given or agreed to be given in connection with the marriage."
Thus, there remains no doubt that allegations related to demand of Rs. One lac and gold chain in connection with first birthday celebration of daughter of Sapna cannot be considered as dowry demand. In view of this, it is concluded that the alleged cruelty caused to the deceased was not related to dowry demands and thus, all the essential ingredients of Section 304B IPC have not been established on record.
21. Moreover, it is noteworthy that in his statement Ex. PW1/A, Ram Kumar mentioned that accused Ravi Singh had demanded that a fixed deposit of Rs. One lac be got issued in the name of his granddaughter, whereas PW1, PW2 and PW3, during their deposition improved their version that the said money of Rs. One lac was demanded for celebrating first birthday of daughter of Sapna. Otherwise also, the prosecution has not been able to substantiate the allegation of demand of money by call detail records of mobile phone of said persons though it alleged by PW1 and PW2 that accused Ravi Singh had called Page No. 19 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
20 PW1 at about 9.159.30 pm, and PW3 alleged that accused Nirmala had called her on her landline phone at 9.00 pm. It is also noteworthy that PW3 has claimed that her sister Sapna was very close to her and she used to tell her each and every affair of her family, but testimony of PW3 is only confined to demands and beating pertaining to 15.09.2013 and she had not levelled even a single allegation, regarding the dowry demands and subjecting Sapna to cruelty in connection with that, of the period prior to 15.09.2013. Thus, there is no consistency in the deposition of all the three material prosecution witnesses. It also strengthens the defence of the accused persons that they had not put forward any dowry demand to Sapna or her family member at any point of time.
22. Now, it is to be seen whether the prosecution has been able to prove the charge u/s 498A IPC. PW2 and PW3 have deposed that Sapna had called them and informed that her sisterinlaw and motherinlaw caught hold of her and her fatherinlaw and husband had given severe beatings soon before her death. PW3 stated that Sapna called her at 9.37 pm. However, the call detail records Ex. PW10/D of mobile number of Sapna i.e. 9868494544, which was in the name of her husband, Page No. 20 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
21 and of PW3 i.e. 9968499874, which was in the name of her husband, Ex. PW10/C make it quite clear that PW3 had called the deceased at 9.33 pm and not viceversa and thus, it falsifies the version of PW3. Further, PW3 had also mentioned that accused Preeti had also called her at 9.57 pm and at that time, she heard screams of Sapna "bachaobachao", but the said call detail records reveals that no such call was received by PW3 at the aforesaid mobile phone number at 9.57 pm. Furthermore, though all the witnesses alleged that Sapna informed that she was given severe beatings by the accused persons, but the MLC and postmortem report Ex. PW21/A make it quite clear that apart from ligature marks on the neck of Sapna, no other external injuries were noticed on the dead body of the deceased. Moreover, PW21 had specifically deposed in this regard. Thus, the medical evidence also contradicts the version of family members of the deceased.
23. Furthermore, it is evident that no independent witness from the neighbourhood of the accused persons was joined in the investigation to show that the deceased was subjected to cruelty at any point of time. Moreover, even the family members of the deceased had admitted that they had not given any police Page No. 21 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
22 complaint regarding any dowry demand or harassment caused to Sapna prior to her death.
24. In view of aforesaid discussion, this Court is of the opinion that testimony of family members of the deceased does not inspire confidence. As discussed above, the deposition of PW1, PW2 and PW3 was found in contradiction with FIR/statement Ex. PW1/A and medical records. Their version is exaggerated and baseless and without independent corroboration, which is not there on record, their evidence cannot be relied upon to punish the accused persons.
25. Further, it is found that sufficient defence evidence has come on record to counter the prosecution case and to show that there were cordial relations between the deceased and her husband and further that the deceased was kept in matrimonial house properly by the accused persons. PW2 has admitted that apart from honeymoon trip of the deceased and her husband accused Amit Deswal to Manali, they had gone on several other outstation trips. Further, accused Amit Deswal (DW1) has also testified that he had gifted jewellery to the deceased on the occasion of their first marriage ceremony and birthday of the Page No. 22 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
23 deceased and has placed on record copy of bill/invoice of jewellery Mark D14 and Mark D15. PW2 i.e. mother of the deceased has also admitted that accused Amit Deswal had gifted gold items to the deceased on the said occasions. Moreover, it has already been proved that the deceased was permitted to pursue her studies and to prepare for competitive examination for job. In view of this, it emerges that accused Amit Deswal was a sensible, caring and affectionate husband. This being the case, it is difficult to believe the prosecution version that the deceased was subjected to cruelty by her husband and his family members.
26. Further, ld. defence counsel also emphasized that the deceased was having suicidal tendency and in this regard, attention of this Court was drawn towards postmortem report Ex. PW21/A and the photograph Ex. PW6/A15 taken during postmortem of the deceased. In the postmortem report, it is mentioned that multiple parallel horizontally placed old scar marks (glistening) were present over front of left forearm wrist. Further, the said photograph clearly shows that there were at least 15 old scar marks on the wrist of the deceased. It is pertinent to mention here that none of the family members of the deceased came forward to explain the reason of said scar marks.
Page No. 23 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
24 Though PW3 admitted in her cross examination that scar marks were there on the left forearm of Sapna, but she explained that scar marks came as Sapna used to wear bangles since childhood. On the face of it, this explanation is not found satisfactory as it is difficult to imagine how the bangles can give more than 15 scar marks spreading horizontally on the forearm upto 10 inches starting from wrist and as to why the scar marks came only on the left forearm. Otherwise also, the doctor conducting the postmortem (PW21) has explained that these marks are result of hesitation cut generally related to suicide attempt and these are unlikely to be caused by broken bangles.
27. Further, it was pleaded by the defence side that Sapna used to like one boy namely Yashwinder @ Yashi, who was her classmate and since her parents did not allow Sapna to marry Yashwinder @ Yashi, she used to remain unhappy in her matrimonial house and ultimately, she committed suicide. On this aspect, PW2 stated that Yashwinder @ Yashi used to treat Sapna as sister, whereas, PW3 replied that Yashwinder @ Yashi was their family friend and in case Sapna had disclosed her willingness to marry Yashwinder @ Yashi, their family members could have agreed for that. Thus, it cannot be overruled that the Page No. 24 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
25 deceased, who was admittedly right handed, had cut her left arm number of times prior to her marriage as her parents did not agree for her marriage with Yashwinder @ Yashi and since she could not forget him even after her marriage, she took extreme step to end her life. Moreover, during investigation, it has also come that the door of the room, in which Sapna committed suicide, was bolted from inside and it was broke open by accused Amit Deswal and neighbours. The photograph of the broken door Ex. PW8/A4, rough site plan Ex. PW20/A and scaled site plan Ex. PW17/A of place of incident specifically mentioning about the broken door, fortify the defence of the accused persons that Sapna committed suicide on her own and without any pressure or creation of hostile circumstances by the accused persons.
28. In view of the discussion made above, it is held that the evidence on record is not sufficient to show that the accused persons had subjected the deceased to any cruelty or harassment.
CONCLUSION:
29. For the reasons recorded above, this Court is of the opinion that the prosecution has failed to prove its case beyond Page No. 25 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.
26 reasonable doubt in respect of any charge and accordingly, all three accused persons are pronounced not guilty in respect of offences punishable u/s 498A/304B/302/34 IPC.
Announced in the open Court (VIVEK KUMAR GULIA) on 27 day of May 2017.
th ASJ03 & Special Judge (Companies Act) (total 26 pages) Dwarka Courts (SW), New Delhi.
Page No. 26 of 26. State Vs. Amit Deswal & Others; FIR No. 225/13 of PS BHD Nagar.